sixthiterationlogs | "You're father was an honorable man"

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"You're father was an honorable man"

WHO: Margaery Tyrell
WHERE: Robb's House
WHEN: 6/13
OPEN TO: Robb Stark
WARNINGS: Brooding Stark talk

As had happened for her, not long after Robb returned to the village after the Observers' games, his father had been pulled away. She knew the loss would be painful for him, but it was soon compounded by Sansa's disappearance as well. The house Robb occupied was no empty and there was only one sibling left to him in the village. There was a darkness now that she had come to recognize from his family, though she had only seen it in Sansa before coming here. It was loss as long and harsh as winter.

It was only a matter of time before it came for them here as well.

It was hard to say whether or not Robb was looking after himself properly. She didn't press him to stay with her at night, wishing to give him space if he wanted it. But after a day of not seeing him, she went to the Stark home and found him there. There weren't any signs of activity in the kitchen, as she suspected, so she worked to make something for him out of the leftover rabbit she had. It wouldn't be her finest meal, but it would be enough to sustain him.

When it was finished, she brought it to Robb and sat beside him. "Have you slept?"

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Her cooking had improved greatly. Robb's, unfortunately, was as abysmal as ever, and with his reluctance these last days to visit the brightness and bustle of the inn, he'd had little enough to eat. He reached for the bowl now, glad to have the distraction of forcing it down.

"As much as could be expected," he answered around bites, which was to say very little at all. He paused, licking at his lips, and slid a worn glance Margaery's way.

"You ought to stay here," he began, and then halted, reconsidering his phrasing. "Would you stay here? I don't like the idea of you all alone... and I'd like to have you here with me."

She valued her independence, that Robb knew quite well, but she too had lost someone, even if they hadn't precisely been family. Claire had been her friend, Sansa as well, and she'd been very fond of his father.

"It needn't be permanent."

It didn't matter how he phrased it, the thought had been in her head as well. She had lived alone in the village before and it didn't suit her very well. She had always been surrounded by family or friends, whether it was King's Landing or Highgarden. The only time she had ever truly been alone was in the Black Cells. It wasn't something she wanted to be reminded of and the past few nights had taken her back to that time.

She brushed a curl away from Robb's eyes, letting out a soft sigh. "If I were to move, I would be surrendering the house I claimed. If I do that, I would prefer that it be permanent. We have been living together in all but name as it is." It wasn't as though she were attached to her bungalow. It wasn't Highgarden, it could be given to someone else.

"I would need to find a way to move my garden."

It was difficult to tell if Margaery was pleased by the idea at all; she seemed rather resigned to it, but her thinking was logical, and she was entirely correct. They had been living together much as husband and wife, choosing to not so much hide the fact but to simply never mention it, much of it for the benefit of Robb's father.

But his father was gone now, and it all suddenly felt entirely silly.

"We can talk to Mark, he may know a way" Robb said now, and set his bowl aside to clasp Margaery's hands in both of his own. "Live here with me. I don't want to continue on as if being together is a shameful secret."

He'd not ask her to marry him, not again, and she knew well enough why. They both had their difficulties and superstitions with that particular institution. But here, it didn't matter if they'd said a vow. That they were devoted to one another was enough.

Fear countered her happiness. As much as she knew that this was what Robb wanted, a part of her remembered how badly things had gone the first time. Beyond that, there was the hanging knowledge that something could happen and he could disappear from her side again. She had a brief glimpse of it when he had been taken to the shrine. Losing him again in any capacity frightened her.

She smiled softly, pressing a kiss to his hands. "Of course I will." Whatever she might fret over, her feelings for Robb outweighed them. It didn't matter if they were married or not, so long as they spent their lives together, it was all she could want. "My only concerns are small details. My garden, moving my loom and butter churn. We will have to build a fence to keep my garden protected." But they were small matters that could be solved easily.

She smiled, the idea that they were living as though it were a secret to be embarrassed by amused her. She hadn't gone out of her way to hide anything, only to remain circumspect around Lord Stark. "I have spent so long being afraid of what happened in the past, but I think it's this world that's more pressing. With everyone disappearing, I don't want to be held back by my superstitions. I want to live completely and without restraint when it comes to us. If something happens, I don't want to have regrets."

Listening to her, hearing the growing strength in her voice, Robb nodded. "I think we're ready now." They'd been through so many difficulties, the two of them, and were mistaken, perhaps, by thinking this place was free of anything so awful. But it was still a far cry from what they'd faced in Westeros, and there had to be a middle place, a way to grab happiness where they might — To be mindful of how limited their time might be while also stepping free from the past.

"And..." Robb took a deep breath, looking down to their hands. "Perhaps it's a fool's hope, but Arya returned once. We might see our family yet again. I cannot let my life be dictated by sorrow and regret any longer, Margaery."

"Neither can I." She murmured to him, running her thumbs over his knuckles. In the end, he was all she truly had. There were friends, close bonds that she shared, but Robb had become her family. He grounded her and offered her happiness that she had never conceived before. She feared it once, she mishandled it, but he was right. They were ready to move forward.

"I don't know if they will come through the fountain again or if it will be someone else. I know that we have lived so long in the past, whether we meant to or not. We think about what happened rather than what will happen. We have both been here nearly two years. Let's mark it by letting go of Westeros and everything else. I don't want one foot in our world and one here. I want to be happy."

Tears stood unshed in Robb's eyes, but he nodded. He'd cried enough for the loss of his father and sisters in moments alone, but this was something different. These tears, refusing to fall, were for allowing himself to let them go.

If they returned, they returned. Perhaps they would stay here with them here a month or a year or longer, but those left perpetually behind — Margaery, Jon, himself — could not carry the burden of waiting to see what came to pass. All that remained to them in this new life would be wasted with it.

Robb pulled Margaery close, cheek pressed to her hair. He'd been afraid the motion might draw up emotion lurking beneath the surface, but he did not weep. There was sorrow, yes, but he felt steady with her pressed against him.

She held him, feeling the tightness in her chest slowly recede. Everything was easier to bear here. The quiet moments were not so suffocating and the shadows didn't loom quite so large. Her heart could beat normally and all of the self doubt was removed as if it were mist over the morning lake. Whether he formally asked or not, she would have stayed at his side as he had with her while Lord Stark still lived here.

"We move forward," she said as much for herself as she did for him. "I'll speak with Mark soon about moving my garden. You will have to build a fence and help me move my things." This gave them something to focus on, something to keep them busy as they adjusted to this new state of being.

"Have you considered asking Jon to live closer as well?"

"Is that something you would want?" Robb asked as he leaned back, eyebrows pulling together as he looked Margaery in the eye. "I would mean Lyanna as well."

And that, of course, came with its own considerations. He and Lyanna had been getting on a sight better than they had at the start, but could they two live in harmony in such a small space? Perhaps the only way to know was to try it and see.

"I'd thought of it, but... I don't know how well it would go over, coming from me. Like I'm trying to take Father's place and tell them what they ought to do."

"It wouldn't trouble me, but I don't run at the sight of her as she does with me." She wasn't a woman who had reason to trust a southroner, certainly not one that had married into the Lannister house twice. It had never bothered her, though it would cause trouble for Robb if he wanted to have his family close. "You could at least speak to her about it? She might be willing to accept my presence, so long as she can be with you and Jon."

Everything was different now. There wasn't a point for the old squabbles. So long as they were the only ones remaining, they should band together. No one else would understand what they endured and the world they left behind. An ally was more important than old grudges.

"I don't think Jon or Lyanna would look at it that way, Robb. You have suffered the same loss. Tell him what you have said to me, that you want to make the most of this world with your family close."

"I don't know that it's your presence that would be the trouble," Robb replied with a knowing cant of his head. "She and I haven't always gotten on. To suggest we see things differently would be a bit of an understatement."

He heaved a sigh and pushed a hand through his hair. It was getting long and would need to be trimmed again soon lest he start being mistaken for Jon. "But you are right," he allowed. "I'll need to speak with them both, I suppose." He had hoped perhaps Margaery might volunteer for him, but he could see clearly now this duty was his own. Not to mention that she'd have her hands full enough with the business of moving house.

She had volunteered for him once before, but this was a different matter than the Red Wedding. It wasn't her place to speak to his family about staying closer to him. For as much as she was brought into their ranks, she was no Stark and she was not a Northerner. Their bond was stronger and this was a loss they shared on a deeper level.

She pressed a kiss to his brow, offering a small smile. "Whatever they decide, we will still be here together." They wouldn't be alone. She grinned, hoping to offer him a bit of amusement and lightness against the backdrop of pain and sorrow. "It isn't as though you are asking them to marry you."

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"You're father was an honorable man"

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